The Library of Legends: A Novel

By Janie Chang

“The Library of Legends is a gorgeous, poetic journey threaded with mist and magic about a group from a Chinese university who take to the road to escape the Japanese invasion of 1937 – only to discover that danger stalks them from within. Janie Chang pens pure enchantment!”  —Kate Quinn, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Huntress

From the author of Three Souls and Dragon Springs Road comes a captivating historical novel—the third in a loosely-connected trilogy—in which a young woman travels across China with a convoy of student refugees, fleeing the hostilities of a brutal war with Japan.

“Myths are the darkest and brightest incarnations of who we are…”

China, 1937: When Japanese bombs begin falling on the city of Nanking, nineteen-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of more than a hundred students, faculty, and staff must walk a thousand miles to the safety of China’s western provinces, a journey marred by hunger, cold, and the constant threat of aerial attack. And it is not just the student refugees who are at risk: Lian and her classmates have been entrusted with a priceless treasure, a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends.

Her family’s past has made Lian wary of forming attachments, but the students’ common duty to safeguard the Library of Legends forms unexpected bonds. Lian finds friendship and a cautious romance with the handsome and wealthy Liu Shaoming. But after one classmate is murdered and another arrested, Lian realizes she must escape from the convoy before a family secret puts her in danger. Accompanied by Shao and the enigmatic maidservant Sparrow, Lian makes her way to Shanghai, hoping to reunite with her mother.

On the journey, Lian learns of the connection between her two companions and a tale from the Library of Legends, The Willow Star and the Prince. Learning Shao and Sparrow’s true identities compels Lian to confront her feelings for Shao. But there are broader consequences too, for as the ancient books travel across China, they awaken immortals and guardian spirits to embark on an exodus of their own, one that changes the country’s fate forever.

Based on true events, rich in Chinese history and lore, The Library of Legends is both an illuminating exploration of China’s recent past and an evocative tale of love, sacrifice, and the extraordinary power of storytelling.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: May 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9780062851512

Janie Chang

Janie Chang is the Globe and Mail bestselling author of historical fiction. Born in Taiwan, Janie Chang has lived in the Philippines, Iran, Thailand, New Zealand, and Canada. Her novels often draw from family history and ancestral stories. She has a degree in computer science and is a graduate of the Writer’s Studio Program at Simon Fraser University. She is the author of Three Souls, Dragon Springs Road, The Library of Legends, The Porcelain Moon; and co-author of The Phoenix Crown, with Kate Quinn.

Book preview

The Journey West

Map by Nick Springer / Springer Cartographics LLC

Chapter 1

September 20, 1937–Nanking, China

The approaching aircraft were too far away for Lian to tell whether they were Chinese or Japanese. A moment later, she didn’t need to guess. The spiraling wail of sirens churned the air. Then the bombs began falling, like beads slipping off a necklace.

She had been on her way to the train station. She’d gotten off the rickshaw to buy a steamed bun for breakfast. Now she stood outside the bakery as though rooted to the pavement, uncertain what to do. The nearest air-raid shelter was two blocks away, across from the railway station, its entrance already besieged. Even if she were willing to abandon her wicker suitcase, she would never reach the shelter in time.

A strong hand gripped her arm and yanked her through the bakery door.

Get to the back room, the baker growled. But she shook her head and dashed out, struggling back with the heavy suitcase. She had to save her books.

Inside, the baker and his wife were throwing damp cloths over trays of buns. He pointed to a storage room built against the back of the kitchen, sacks of flour stacked against one wall. The couple joined four small children squeezed together against the sacks. Lian hesitated, then slid her wicker suitcase under a worktable. But before she could run to the storage room, a shrill whistling pierced her eardrums, followed by the sound of explosions. The floor shuddered. Next she heard the sharp, rhythmic report of antiaircraft guns.

There was a roar of sound and then the world went silent.

LIAN HAD LEFT Minghua University early that morning, spending precious coins from her small cache to ride on a rickshaw that jounced its way through congested streets. Rickshaws and handcarts, handbarrows, wagons, and the occasional automobile. Nanking was evacuating. Every vehicle was piled high with trunks, sacks of food, furniture, and people. Invalids and the elderly, mothers holding children. Their expressions ranged from anxious to stoic.

Her own appearance, Lian hoped, signaled maturity and reserve, enough to dissuade the attentions of hawkers, pickpockets, and talkative fellow travelers. She’d pulled her hair into a tight knot, the severe style offsetting her least-favorite feature, a small chin that made her seem years younger than nineteen. At least her navy-blue Minghua blazer proclaimed her of university age.

The Japanese had yet to bomb the city’s outlying districts. Minghua University’s campus lay southwest of Nanking and was a haven compared to the frenzied scene around the railway station. The university had begun emptying bit by bit as nervous parents instructed their children to come home.

Lian’s home was Peking, where her mother lived. But Peking had been taken by the enemy earlier that month. She’d been frantic for her mother’s safety until a much-delayed letter arrived. Inside, her mother had tucked in money for Lian’s train fare. Peking was already lost when her mother wrote that letter. The Chinese army was in retreat and the Japanese were marching in.

Daughter, everyone expects the Japanese to reach Peking within days. I’m leaving tomorrow. I will meet you in Shanghai. When you get there, find the Unity Mission School and stay there. Tell them your mother is a former student. Tell them I’m on my way. They won’t refuse you.

But when her mother mailed the letter, the Japanese had not yet attacked Shanghai. Every day, newspapers printed photographs of Shanghai’s streets, now cordoned off with barbed-wire barricades that separated Shanghai’s International Settlement from the rest of the city. The Settlement was not Chinese territory. It had been ceded to foreign powers decades ago and the Japanese military couldn’t enter. Now refugees streamed into the sanctuary of the Settlement, past gates guarded by Japanese sentries.

Lian was taking the Nanking-to-Shanghai train, which terminated at Shanghai’s North Railway Station, safely located inside the Settlement. But how would her mother get to Shanghai? What if she couldn’t get past the barricades? It was too late now for second-guessing or a change of plans. Her mother was on the road and Lian had no way of contacting her, let alone in a timely fashion.

These thoughts and a multitude of other worries spun hazily in Lian’s head and slowly, slowly, she opened her eyes. Sunlight from a back window illuminated motes of white dust hanging in the air. No, not dust. Flour. The baker’s family was sweeping the floor, coaxing snowy piles onto a large cloth, which they tilted carefully into a bin. Lian sat up and leaned her back against the wall.

One of the baker’s children knelt down and spoke to her. Lian saw the girl’s lips move, forming words. Words Lian couldn’t hear. She shook her head in bemusement. The girl shrugged and went back to sweeping. Lian stood up slowly, still leaning against the wall. She noticed with detached wonder that she was covered in a fine film of white. She took her blazer off and shook it a few times until the fabric shed its dusting of flour.

Then she knelt beside the kitchen table and pulled her suitcase out. She staggered to the front of the shop, wondering why the suitcase felt twice as heavy as before. Outside, she put it down and peered at Shing An Road, toward the railway station. Murky smoke stung her eyes. All she could make out were large, inert shapes but her hearing was coming back and there was a muted sound of shouting voices.

Wreckage covered the road. Rickshaws in splinters, carts missing wheels, a wooden store sign lying broken on the sidewalk. A pile of fallen bricks where a wall used to be. Fragments of yellow-glazed roof tile littered the road like autumn leaves. A middle-aged woman sat up, then steadied herself against what remained of a lamppost. Her plump face streaked with grime, stout figure swaying, the woman stared up at the sky. She burst into tears and limped away, vanishing into the smoke.

Beside the lamppost, a toppled handbarrow blocked the sidewalk. It was surrounded by bundles, goods that had fallen off. Then one of the bundles twitched and slowly crawled across the cobblestones toward a smaller bundle. And lay still again.

Lian pushed her knuckles into her mouth to block the scream rising from her throat, backing up until she bumped against the bakery wall. She had to get hold of herself. There were people in need of help. She had to do something. She picked up her suitcase and began walking uncertainly toward the station, into the smoke.

A mound of rubble heaved up and she jumped back in alarm, dropping her suitcase. Bits of brick and wood dropped away to reveal the undercarriage of an upside-down rickshaw. The two people who had been sheltering beneath it stood up. The young man who had pushed up the rickshaw carriage turned and surveyed the street. He was tall, with the lean frame of an athlete. Streaks of dirt obscured his features but his jacket was a familiar shade of blue.

The petite young woman beside him wore the tunic and baggy trousers of a servant. She gave the young man a handkerchief and he wiped his face. Then he dusted off his jacket with a jaunty air, not at all as though he’d just lived through an air raid. He smiled when he saw Lian, a grave and courteous smile that made her feel as though he was giving her his complete and undivided attention. In a far corner of her mind, she acknowledged that his smile would’ve been captivating if she weren’t so numb, so overwhelmed by all the destruction.

He walked toward her, his first few steps a bit unsteady. He pointed at the enameled badge pinned to his jacket, then to the embroidered crest on her blazer with a grin of recognition, as if they were at a school social. The servant girl simply stood on the street, appraising the ruins around them.

I’m Liu Shaoming, fourth year, he said. Call me Shao.

Lian recognized him now. It would’ve been hard not to. Liu Shaoming was at the center of an elite circle at Minghua, all scions of wealthy families connected either by kinship or business interests. Her female classmates considered him the handsomest man on campus.

That’s Sparrow Chen, he added, indicating the girl with a tilt of his chin. She works on campus.

Sparrow’s face was clean of dirt and soot, her features calm. Lian found the girl vaguely familiar, wide-set eyes in a face just verging on prettiness. Yes, of course. Sparrow was the one who cleaned the dormitory floors. How could she not have remembered?

Hu Lian. Second year, she said. It was ridiculous, in this place and at such a time, that she should wonder how she looked, her cheeks streaked with tears from the stinging smoke, hair and clothing dusted with flour.

We were on our way to the station, Shao said, the ten o’clock train to Shanghai. You too?

She nodded and turned away to look down the street. A light breeze was dispersing the smoke and she could see more of Shing An Road. And the railway station. It seemed undamaged, but twisted vehicles and shattered masonry filled the street in front of its arched entrance. The air-raid shelter and buildings across from the station had taken a direct hit and were now in flames. All those people, now buried under bricks and shards of glass.

There were too many people trying to get in the air-raid shelter, Shao said, his gaze following hers. Sparrow said we should find cover somewhere else. Good thing we did.

His next words were interrupted by an explosion from the direction of the shelter, making them both jump. There was a whoosh of sound, and flames rose from another building.

Young Master, Sparrow spoke for the first time. We must get out of here. Now.

No, no, we should go help, Lian said, staring at the flames, the smoke. She picked up her suitcase again.

That was a gas explosion and there will be more, the girl said, as patiently as if Lian were a child. This street will burn to the ground before the fire trucks come. If they even come. We must get back to campus, let them know we’re safe.

Sparrow’s right, Shao said. Let’s walk back to campus.

He reached down and took the wicker suitcase from her. Let me take this, he said. We left our luggage behind when we ran from the station.

When Lian didn’t move, he took her hand. She followed him obediently and they made their way slowly through the ruined streets. Past crumpled vehicles flung against walls, homes collapsed into small landslides of shattered building materials. Past ragged piles of bloodied clothing, some moving feebly. Lian couldn’t stop hearing the screams and desperate voices calling out for mothers, husbands, children. For help. Jiu ming ah, jiu ming! Save me, oh, save me!

This is hopeless, Sparrow, Shao said after several blocks. The streets are a mess. I can barely tell where we are.

I know the way, Sparrow said. Let me lead. There was a pure and shining quality to the young woman’s voice, Lian thought.

Sparrow and I grew up together, Shao said. She was one of our house servants. She claims she got bored with Shanghai and that’s why she came to Nanking. But I’m certain my mother sent her to keep an eye on me. Right, Sparrow?

Sparrow looked over her shoulder and smiled.

Blinking tears from her stinging eyes, Lian thought for a split second that Sparrow Chen’s silhouette glowed, shimmering with a clear light that gleamed through the murk. Lian wiped her eyes with a grubby sleeve and when she looked again, Sparrow’s figure was quite ordinary, a petite shape clambering over the wreckage of a fallen roof.

All the way back, Shao talked. About his roommate, Pao, who had gone home the week before. About his two older brothers, one running the family’s shipping business, the other working as an aide for a senior cabinet member in the government. About his home in Shanghai, a modern villa with formal European gardens in front, classical Chinese gardens at the back with two goldfish ponds and a pavilion.

Lian knew he was trying to distract her, but she barely heard his words as she stumbled along beside him, back to Minghua University. Back to the tranquil campus designed after American colleges, its green lawns edged with gravel walkways, and halls and dormitories of warm red brick. Back to a tranquility that could not possibly last.

Chapter 2

As Shao and Lian trailed Sparrow through the wreckage, Shao kept glancing down at Lian, trying to place her. It came to him only after Lian’s hair came loose from its matronly bun and hung down to frame her face. Each year, Minghua University awarded scholarships to three students. The school newspaper always printed their photos. Lian was one of the scholarship winners from last year, her fees and expenses fully covered for four years. She was a literature major, if he remembered correctly. He recalled thinking at the time that she looked too young to be attending college.

They followed Sparrow’s trim figure past neighborhoods blasted beyond recognition, through tangles of people and vehicles, along streets Shao didn’t know existed, until finally the crenellations of Nanking’s city walls loomed above them. They left the city through its triple-arched southern gate. After another hour of walking, Shao began spotting familiar landmarks. They were almost at Minghua University. He knew it would’ve taken much longer if not for Sparrow.

When they reached Minghua’s gates, Shao insisted they all go to the school clinic. He only had a few cuts on his hands, which the nurse treated with iodine. There wasn’t a scratch on Sparrow, who returned to the servants’ quarters. The school nurse took one look at Lian’s pale face and called an aide to take her into the ward. Lian would stay at the clinic for a night or more to recover from her shock.

Shao used the telephone in the nurse’s office to call his father in Shanghai. His father was in a meeting, the secretary informed him, so Shao left a message to say he hadn’t boarded the train. That he was safe and back at the campus. And what would his father like him to do now?

When the war began, some families had kept their children home, so they’d be together if they had to flee. Others believed their children would be safer at school in another city. Some, like Shao’s father, had changed their minds partway through the semester and sent for their children to come home.

There was no single correct decision, Shao reflected. Only anxiety, leavened by hope. And now perhaps Minghua University would evacuate Nanking.

THAT NIGHT, SHAO lay awake on his narrow dorm bed, trying and failing to push away memories of the morning’s horrors. He wished his roommate, Pao, hadn’t gone home. But there was something else that prevented him from sleeping, something that prickled at the edge of his consciousness. Something to do with the letter from his father. It had arrived weeks ago, ordering him to come home.

But Shao had been reluctant to leave Minghua University. Professor Kang had asked him to lead a tutorial group, the first time he’d been given such a responsibility. The first-year students had been enthusiastic in their discussions and touchingly in awe of Shao, so he’d kept delaying his departure. Until the Japanese began their aerial attacks on the city.

Giving up on sleep, he lifted aside a corner of the blackout curtains. Overhead, a full moon glowed serenely behind a thin veil of clouds. Enough cloud cover, he hoped, that there wouldn’t be any air raids this night. Dropping the curtain, he reached over to his desk and turned on the lamp. He found his father’s letter and sat down on the bed. His father never wrote actual letters, just appended a few lines to the ones Shao’s mother wrote. It was her monthly missives that kept Shao up to date with every birth, marriage, illness—and sometimes death—in their large clan. He scanned his father’s words again, the handwriting elegant and spare, penned in a deep blue ink that exactly matched the border of his mother’s stationery.

I know how much you want to stay at Minghua, but you must come home before it gets even more dangerous to travel. Your mother is worried. Leave before Minghua University evacuates Nanking. Buy a train ticket and let me know the date.

His father had signed the note as usual with his seal, a red stamp with his name, Liu Sanmu, in traditional li-shu-style script. Unconsciously Shao picked up his own chop from the desk and rubbed his thumb across the cylinder of polished white jade, identical, but for the carved signatures, to the ones his father and older brothers carried.

Your mother is worried.

An oblique reference to his mother’s state of mind was always a cause for concern and always effective at ensuring his obedience. She could be withdrawn one day, vivacious with wit and charm the next. Shao recognized his own impulsiveness as one of his mother’s traits and always tried to keep it in check. He’d inherited little else from her. Like his brothers, his height, thick brows, and clean, square sweep of jawline were his father’s.

He read his father’s words for the third time and identified the sentence that bothered him.

Leave before Minghua University evacuates Nanking.

Not in case Minghua University evacuates Nanking but evacuation as a statement of fact. The Liu family owned Xinwen Bao, one of Shanghai’s major newspapers. Shao’s father was the paper’s owner and editor in chief, privy to information from a wide network of contacts. Liu Sanmu was careful never to criticize the Nationalist government, not even in private. But in advising his son, he had let something slip.

His father didn’t believe the Chinese could hold on to Nanking.

WHEN CHANCELLOR ZHAO called an assembly, Shao suspected it was to announce their evacuation. Some of the students in the large auditorium grumbled, especially the ones whose hometowns were now occupied by the Japanese. They wanted to stand their ground. Some of Shao’s classmates had already dropped out and enlisted. Angry voices around Shao echoed his own hatred and feelings of helplessness.

The army would never let Nanking fall, it’s our nation’s capital.

I don’t care what my parents say, I’m enlisting. I can join our defenses at the city walls.

Women are volunteering too. First aid, couriers, emergency services.

In Tientsin, the Japanese had bombed Nankai University, then set fire to what remained of the campus. During a press conference with foreign journalists, the Japanese press officer had insisted it had been necessary to target Nankai University because it was an anti-Japanese base. In fact, they considered all Chinese universities anti-Japanese bases.

When Chancellor Zhao took the stage, a respectful but reluctant silence replaced the clamor. The announcement was as they’d expected. The Ministry of Education had ordered universities to get out of the enemy’s path. The government wanted students to continue their education in safety, far from the front lines. Schools must evacuate to cities inland where the government was setting up temporary campuses.

Minghua’s interim campus, they were told, would be in the city of Chengtu, deep in central China. They would take only what they could carry on this journey of a thousand miles.

A traveling campus, Shao thought. No, a refugee campus.

Then Chancellor Zhao cleared his throat. I know how badly some of you want to enlist and defend our country. But war threatens not just people and places. It destroys knowledge, culture, and history. If we want China to have a future, we must save our cultural and intellectual legacy.

He’s going to tell us to stay in school, the student beside Shao muttered.

Murmurs of protest rose from the audience then faded when Zhao held up a hand for silence. He paused to take a deep breath and Shao realized the elderly gentleman was trying to hold back tears.

My dear young friends, the chancellor said, I can’t forbid you to enlist, but I ask you to consider that your educated minds will be the most valuable resource you can give our nation once this war is over.

Exiting the auditorium, the students were quieter and more thoughtful than they’d been fifteen minutes earlier. Shao found the chancellor’s uncharacteristic display of emotion disturbing because it meant the situation was more dangerous than they’d all chosen to believe.

Outside, under the late summer sunshine, Shao suddenly felt as though he was seeing Minghua’s campus for the first time, the flower beds and lush green lawns of the quadrangle, the neatly raked gravel paths shaded by sycamores. He had been awed by the stately halls of stone and brick when he’d first arrived. Now there was the distinct possibility he would never see this campus again, not the way it stood today. He winced at the memory of Shing An Road, the flames roaring above shattered buildings. He hoped their beautiful campus would escape ruin.

Were you planning to enlist? a voice beside him asked.

It was Wang Jenmei, a fourth-year student who made no secret of her sympathies for the Chinese Communist Party. Shao’s roommate, Pao, had taken Jenmei to a movie once and found her too outspoken, her manners too casual. Too much of her conversation had been spent trying to persuade Pao on the benefits of a socialist system. Despite her bold beauty, Pao had never taken her out again.

Shao shook his head. My father forbids it.

The government is right about one thing, Jenmei said. We must think of China’s future after the war. We must protect our students.

So the Communist leadership doesn’t want students to enlist either? he said, just to tease her.

Most of China is illiterate. Jenmei waved her hand, an airy gesture. Finding a hundred thousand raw soldiers is easy. But university students are much harder to come by. So yes, on this particular issue the Communist leadership agrees with the government.

She turned and ran lightly down the steps to the quadrangle. His eyes followed her shapely figure, her graceful movements. She joined a small group of students and immediately took over the animated conversation.

Shao couldn’t help but contrast Jenmei with Lian. One so bold and confident. The other cautious as a bird. Lian had clung to his hand all the way back as they made their way through the chaotic streets. Once he’d glanced down and she had looked up at the same time. She had a kittenish face with a small chin. Her eyes were the same color as the smoky topaz his mother wore at her throat. That he should remember her eyes so clearly caught him by surprise.

Shao pushed his way past groups of clustered students. He was a tutorial leader and had to set a good example and get to the room on time, even if most of the students were still milling about outside. Across the quadrangle, he saw a slim figure carry a bucket and mop up the steps of the Faculty Building. As if she could sense him watching, Sparrow Chen turned around for a moment, then continued through the double doors, her bucket swinging.

Chapter 3

Lian had the dormitory room to herself now. Her roommate had gone home several weeks ago, taken away by her parents shortly after Peking and Tientsin fell. Lian cherished her solitude. Without a roommate the plain room felt like a sanctuary, a place where she could dispense with any pretense of enjoying her classmates’ company, avoid the puzzling, intricate protocols required to feign friendship.

Lian dosed herself each night with syrup of poppies. The nurse had given her a small bottle to help her sleep. Even so, she woke up several times, jolted out of dreams that left cold sweat on her brows, ghostly images from the railway station curling like burnt paper at the edges of her mind. She turned over to try and sleep again but the silence disturbed her. Nanking was under blackout and nothing moved on the streets outside Minghua’s walls. Not the familiar rumble of farmers pushing handbarrows on their way to market or the cries of night soil collectors. No laughter from revelers reeling their way home.

Yet there was something about the silence, an expectant stillness that felt like the hush of a theater audience waiting for the star performer to appear. Lian rolled over just as brightness flared at the window, outlining the blackout curtain. Its brilliance was not that of early morning. Awake enough to be curious, Lian got out of bed and raised one edge of the drapes. To the east, the barest hint of morning colored the horizon. To the west, the sky was steeped in darkness, dim hues of blue and gray flecked with stars, a low-hanging half-moon.

The light came from the courtyard below.

It was a girl. She stood with her back to Lian. Her head was turned up to gaze at the heavens and her slim silhouette gleamed with a cool, clean radiance. She lifted one hand to the sky as if in greeting. Then a scattering of clouds dimmed the constellations and light drained from the courtyard as the girl walked away, vanishing into the shadows.

Lian climbed back into bed and pulled up the blankets, wondering what she’d just seen, or if she had seen anything at all. By the time she fell back into sleep, it seemed to her that the shining figure was merely the memory of a dream, brought on by syrup of poppies.

AT HER FIRST class the next morning, Lian’s instructor gave her a note. Professor Kang wanted to see her in his office. Lian hurried across the quadrangle, almost at a run, partly because she didn’t want to keep the professor waiting, but mostly because she didn’t know what to make of the attention from other students she encountered on her way. Students who knew her asked how she was feeling; the ones who didn’t nodded friendly greetings. Her narrow escape at the railway station had given her new distinction among her peers.

She pushed open the heavy double doors of the Faculty Building and climbed the steps to the second floor. At the top of the staircase she paused, a moment of fatigue. One of the cleaning staff, a young woman, was mopping the floor. Lian recognized Sparrow Chen, and they exchanged smiles.

A half-dozen other students were also waiting in Professor Kang’s office, leaning against the walls. One was Liu Shaoming. She berated herself for not responding to his friendly smile of greeting with anything more than a nod. There were two girls, Yee Meirong and Wu Ying-Ying, who were both second-year classmates. She also recognized Shorty Ho, whose round face and innocent smile belied his reputation as a troublemaker. The others Lian didn’t know. When Professor Kang came in the room, they all straightened up.

Kang was revered, the dean of literature and a recognized authority on classics of the Tang Dynasty. Most professors at Minghua dressed in Western suits and ties but Kang kept to traditional garb, a long scholar’s gown, high-necked, and always in a plain, dark fabric. With his wispy gray goatee and round cap, he wouldn’t have looked out of place in an old woodcut. He was how Lian pictured a scholar from the imperial era of a hundred years ago.

Kang peered over the half-moons of his lenses.

You’re the last of our students whose parents wanted you home, he said, but the situation has changed drastically over the past few days. It’s no longer safe for you to travel. The university is responsible for your care, so when Minghua University evacuates Nanking, you’ll be coming with us to our wartime campus in Chengtu.

But what will I tell my father? Shorty Ho asked. He’s expecting me on the weekend train to Hangchow.

You can telephone, Professor Kang said, or we can send a telegram if your family doesn’t have a telephone. Also, if you have any money in bank accounts here, take it out. You’ll need it in the weeks to come.

What will we need to buy, Professor? Meirong said.

Stationery and supplies, he said. Small personal items such as soap and toothpaste. The government will cover our food and lodgings, but we shouldn’t count on all the arrangements falling into place right away. It’s best if you also have your own funds.

When the other students left Kang’s office, Lian stayed behind. The professor gestured for her to sit on the chair by his desk.

Sir, I can’t go with you, she said. She leaned forward, hands clutched in her lap. My mother’s on her way to Shanghai and I’m supposed to meet her there. I have no way of contacting her. I must get to Shanghai.

You can’t go on your own, not anymore, he said gently. Do you know when your mother will get there? Where she will be living?

Lian shook her head. She was about to flee Peking when she wrote to me. But she told me to go to a foreign mission, the Unity Mission School, and wait for her there.

When your mother wrote that letter, she didn’t know the Japanese would attack Shanghai, the professor said. Nor that refugees would be pouring into the International Settlement. The refugee centers are overflowing. If the Mission can’t take you in and you can’t afford to pay for a room, you’ll be living on the streets. Our university is responsible for your safety. I can’t let you go, my dear.

His words, so kindly meant, struck her like a blow across the face. The professor had voiced what Lian didn’t want to acknowledge. That her mother was traveling alone at the mercy of a transport system in chaos. That her mother had to cross stretches of occupied territory before reaching Shanghai. That unlike her classmates from Shanghai, Lian and her mother lacked a fixed address there. Could Lian count on the Unity Mission to take her in? And for how long? She had no relatives or friends in the city, so even if she made it to Shanghai on her own, her small cache of funds would soon be spent.

Lian’s chest felt hollowed out. But what happens when my mother gets to Shanghai and I’m not there?

Write to your mother care of the Mission, Kang said. Tell her you’ve evacuated with us to Chengtu. When your mother writes back, we’ll assess the situation. If there’s a way to get you safely to Shanghai from wherever we are, I promise we will.

But how will she even know where to send a letter? Lian said. She wouldn’t cry in front of the professor. She was no longer a child.

We’ll be making stops along the way, he said. There will be towns the Ministry of Education assigns for longer-term stays. They’ll publish lists of those places as well as all the universities’ final destinations so that families can know where to send letters and money.

Lian could only hope her mother knew to look for the lists. She never should’ve left her mother’s side. She should’ve gone to university in Peking instead. Guilt and fear hardened into a lump just below her rib cage.

Now there’s something we need to do, and I’d like your help, the professor said, his voice brisk. With the Library of Legends.

The Library of Legends. Her reason for coming to Minghua. Lian leaned forward in her chair, intrigued despite her distress. Help with the Legends?

We’re bringing the books with us, he said, and I need volunteers to wrap them up for transport. Can I count on you?

Of course, Professor, she said. How will the Legends be transported?

By wagon, donkey cart, handbarrow, he said. On our backs if necessary. We’re not leaving such a treasure behind.

Chapter 4

The army officer organizing their evacuation had advised the university to leave the campus after dark, when there was less risk

Reviews for The Library of Legends

[anniik_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good book with a lovely mixture of history and mythology.

[fernemysteryreader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Daughter and niece Janie Chang authors a beautifully written historical fiction novel based on her father and uncle's walk of more than a thousand miles to safety with their university in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.Never having any formal education studies about any aspect of the history of China and particularly only hearing the negativity of all things China in the last several years I was mesmerized by the story. Historical fiction well-researched is always fascinating to read but to know that the author has a deep and meaningful personal connection to the legacy of this intellectual and cultural achievement by university professors, staff, and students was powerful, riveting, and evoked many emotions.I rarely think of possibly reading any novel again as there are simply so many books that I'd like to read but I would like to read this book again. There is so much information to absorb of the history shared and the storytelling endears the characters who are representing the courage, the stamina, and the strength of each person who helped to protect a vital part of China's heritage for the generations to come following a time of war.This book was gifted to me by a reader friend and I am deeply grateful for the gift of this reading experience. I recognized the cover from a night of browsing several months earlier but as I added the novel to GoodReads realized I had never added it to my tbr list. Without the gift I might never have read this book and I can't imagine missing it.

[didireallyreadthat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is based on the true story of the transportation of ancient books from Nanking, China to be stored in cave during the Second Sino-Japanese war. We follow a group of students as they walk across China each carrying a book as well as trying to keep up their studies as they go along. This was a part of history that I had never heard of so I was really looking forward to this book. It started off well with a devastating bombing in Nanking followed by decision to move the books. But I was dismayed when one of the characters was revealed to be a mythical deity; I generally don’t like books with magical realism. The joke was on me though; the magical deities added immensely to the plot and seemed, to me, to be, a somewhat accurate cultural tendency to believe in gods being omnipresent in Chinese life.Well-developed characters, an interesting historical setting, a great plot. Highly recommended.

[sheila1957 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Japan has invaded China. The students need to move into the interior of China to continue their college educations. At Minghua University they students are also asked to save the original volumes of the Library of Legends. We go with them as they leave Nanking and travel west and south to avoid the war trying to complete their educations and save the culture and literature of China.I enjoyed this book. I do not read a lot of books from WWII set in Asia. I learned a lot as this is based on a true story. It was also gives some of the literature of the Deities of China. I enjoyed the characters. My favorite character was Professor Kang as he could see and communicate the gods but he was also practical with his students. A lot goes on as the students eyes are opened during their trek across the country. Many of the students come from wealthy families and have no idea about the poverty in the rural areas. Ideas are exchanged, both intellectual and political. I could see why some of what was said and done occurred. Shao's eyes were opened and Lian grows confident in her abilities. I liked seeing these two together and growing. I liked the magical realism of the books as the gods interact with each other. I liked how they appeared. I also liked that they could tell hard truths to other immortals and , if humans could see them, to the humans. I was glad the library was saved. I also appreciated the author's notes as the end telling what was true and how she got the story.I would read Janie Chang again.

[erinclark_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of Lian, a Chinese college student who is forced with her classmates to flee their universities at the beginning of WWII for the safer areas of western China due to attacking Japanese. Lian's particular class is given the job of moving and protecting the 'Library of Legends', fables and legends of Chinese immortals and Gods. Their journey is harrowing and difficult. This story also has a sense of mysticism in that Lian can 'see' the spirit Gods who are guardians of rivers, lakes, fields and forests fleeing the countryside for the safety of the mystical Queens Palace in paradise. No one worships them any more and so they have no purpose. Along Lian's journey she becomes good friends with several students and is especially enamored with Shao, a handsome and wealthy young man. I loved the etherealness of this book. It had some really nitty gritty war time action but also the magic of these sprit gods. Quite well researched and highly recommended.

[reb922 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel was set in the late 1930s and follows A group of students in China evacuating their University as Japan is attacking the country. With them they have the original Library of Legends which they as a group must carry to safety. I’ll admit I know very little about this time period but am now interested to read more. With the mention of a trilogy I read the first two before this. While I enjoyed both they are very loosely connected to the point the all stand alone and reading them out of order will take nothing away atleast in my opinion.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 I love reading about events in history that I knew nothing about and the authors who bring them into the reading light of day. It is 1937 and the official start of the second Sino-japanese War and China has ordered the evacuation of their middle schools and Universities. Hoping to save thier brightest young for the future. This is the story of one such University and the students, students who will travel a thousand miles to China's interior. They also carry with them, in the hopes of protecting, volumes of books, containing the Library of Legends. This also corresponds to an actual book whose title is given in the authors note.Lin, Shao and a maidservant, Sparrow are the main characters. It is through their main eyes that we follow the happenings and anxieties of both a personal and politically dangerous trip. What adds to this story are the Chinese legends, particularly the Willow Star and the Prince. In a bright burst of magic and brilliant colors, various God's are traveling home to take their places in the heavens. Those mortals like Lin and Dr Kang, who are enlightened enough to see this spectacle, are treated to amazing spectacles that will never be forgotten. Little known history, with some wonderful characters, mixed with legend and magical realism made this a wonderful read. Authors note and Q & A at books end answers for the background and actual events in the novel.ARC from Librarything.

[bettytaylor56 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First, you have to get beyond that gorgeous cover. Go ahead and gaze at it, absorbing that artistry. Then once you are ready, open the cover and enter the fantastical world Janie Chang has created, a story blending Chinese history and Chinese folklore.Amidst the brutality of the Japanese invasion of 1937, the books containing all the lore throughout Chinese history must be saved. A convoy of university students, carrying the 500-year-old collection of books, set out on a treacherous journey of over 1000 miles across the country. The story focuses on three of these travelers – Hu Lian, Liu Shaoming, and Sparrow. Friendship, romance, enchantment, secrets, the brutality of war, spies, the strength of the human spirit – all elements of this fascinating story. And above all the value of story – a belief that threads its way throughout many cultures.The magical storyline involves humans who can see the spirits living among them, spirits who have taken the form of humans. At the center of this storyline is the love story of the Willow Star and the Prince. The Willow Star has been waiting hundreds of years for the Prince to recognize her – only then can she take him home with her, back to the heavens.My heart ached for The Willow Star’s seemingly hopeless situation. I also felt great sadness for the spirits, having inhabited earthly forms for a long time, were now forced to leave those forms as the Japanese moved further inland. I am not normally a fan of fantasy, but the historical aspects of this stunning story held my attention. At the start of WWII many of China’s universities began migrating to interior regions of China in an effort to safeguard their intellectual legacy. Ancient literature was stored in caves under the care of university servants. This story focuses on one of those universities.“Maybe immortals feel the passage of time differently than we do. Maybe a hundred years to her is only the blink of an eye, a single beat of the heart.”Thank you to the publisher William Morrow and the Tall Poppies authors for an advance copy to read and review.

[fredreeca · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lian is a student at Minghua University, basically because of the Library of Legends. This is an ancient library at this university which she wants to explore. But, when the Japanese start bombing, every student and faculty must evacuate. They are sworn to protect this library at all cost.There are many unique and creative aspects to this tale. I quite enjoyed Lian. She is an introvert but she is strong and tough. She also has a big heart. Then there is the Chinese history sprinkled throughout this story. It is amazing. There is also a different type of intensity created throughout this novel. Between the Japanese and the mythical creatures…you never know what to expect.I requested this book because of the cover and the title. The cover is gorgeous and it has library in the title. It must be about reading…correct? Well, Yes and No. It is about an ancient library and about the myths surrounding Chinese folklore. But it is also fantasy. This is not my genre…did I read the synopsis…NO! I am so terrible about that. When this story started to get “out there” I knew it was not for me. However, there is true genius in this writing. So if you are into historical fantasy. This one is for you.I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

[riofriotex · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story takes place in China in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Universities in areas being bombed were evacuated, and students (called liuwang), professors, and staff all walked to safer interior areas. Hu Lian is a 19-year-old student at Minghua University in Nanking, and her school is also carrying the Library of Legends, a collection of Chinese folktales and mythology, to safer quarters. There's much adventure (good and bad) along the way, and, in danger, Lian eventually escapes (along with wealthy student Shao and his maidservant Sparrow) to find her mother, a refugee in Shanghai.

There's an element of fantasy in the book, as one of the characters is actually a spirit from one of the legends in human form. The book drags a bit, especially in the middle, but these fantasy elements are just enough to maintain interest but not overwhelm. Author Janie Chang was inspired by her parents' experiences - her father was a liuwang from Nanking and her mother a war refugee in Shanghai.

[karenherndon · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Early reviewers book- thank you.First off I have to say, this is not the type of book I would normally buy/read.That said, I thought it was a nice little story, very well written, decent characters and overall I’d give it probably a 3 1/2 mainly because I found it a very slow read for me. As I said, this is not my kind of story to begin with.

[insightsgal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of my very favorite Early Reviewers books! Part adventure story, part history, part mythology, this book is engaging from beginning to end! I don’t know much about Chinese history, which made this tale even more gripping. I found myself wanting to learn more after I had finished the book. A GREAT read, perfect for book clubs. In fact, my copy is headed to my mother and her book club shortly!

[avogt221-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story is about a group of students (and their professors and university staff) who are forced to relocate the university to the interior of China as the Japanese invade. The focus is on one student primarily who's family carries a dangerous secret. As she flees, she notices that the guardian spirits of China are being called to leave China and return to heaven. In spite of this mystical aspect, this book is much more historical fiction than it is historically based fantasy. The focus is really on the main character and real events of 1937 as she travels though wartorn China with only a tangential "fantastic" subplot occurring in the midst of it. I will admit I found the book hard to get into at first but the last 2/3s of the it flew by. To further recommend this book, it inspired me to seek out other books by this author (I have already picked up two others) and started reading a history book that relates to this period as well.

[dgmlrhodes · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story of the Library of Legends was a fascinating one. Students were forced to leave their university during the war and walk a thousand miles by foot. During the journey, each student was charged with keeping a book from the library of legends safe over the course of their travels. Characters were engaging and the story showed growth and emotional attachment with relationships growing over the course of the story. This highlighted the class system in China. I thought the story started slow but finished strong. I had not read a lot about Chinese history during this time period and it was a refreshing change. A good historical fiction read!Reader received a complimentary cod from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

[9cee9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Universities relocating to safer locations and preserving libraries during WW II was an interesting bit of Chinese history of which I had not been aware. It was a wise effort, as well as courageous, to value knowledge and educating the young in preparation for rebuilding the country after the war. This book included many references to the old spiritual culture, the struggle to save traditional values and family relationships through separations and the perilous wartime journey.

[dianne47-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting mix of historical fiction and legends. University student Lian is forced to flee Nanking with her fellow students as the Japanese bombs start falling. In addition to saving themselves the students are also charged with saving The Library of Legends, a collection of Chinese myths and folklore. Their journey is long and arduous, also eventful as one student is killed and another arrested. Lian decides to escape he student group to locate her mother. She is accompanied by a fellow student Shao and his mysterious servant Sparrow. Characters and story are so interesting, and I learned a lot about a place and time i was not familiar with.

[avanders_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Review based on ARC (Advanced Readers' Copy received in exchange for an honest review).I was completely sucked in by the cover and title. Even though this is squarely in the historical fiction category, the description did nothing to dissuade me to seek this book out. Briefly, it's about a young adult student at University in China in 1937, during the Japanese-Chinese war. As bombs begin falling on her city, Nanking, she and the other students are forced to trek 1000 miles to safety, protecting their own lives as well as the priceless 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore called the Library of Legends.The book covers heartache and growth, love and danger, death and murder, friendship and the strength of family. There is magical realism and/or mythology worked throughout the very engaging and heartbreaking story told here.This is one of those "full" books. It is robust in its narrative and its setting, complex with emotions and characters, and thought-provoking of political and philosophical ideas, old and new. I loved meeting Hu Lian, Liu Shaoming, and especially Sparrow. And I found Professor Kang to be one of my favorite mentors. I was also impressed with Chang's "side" characters -- Shorty Ho, Mr. Lee, Meirong, Jenmei, and Dr. Mao, to name a few. I felt like I understood Lian's connections and distractions, confusion and conflict. Finally, I was enamored with the countryside of China and found myself very interested in visiting some day. Even though the story takes place during wartime and is filled with heartache and famine, there was a beauty and strength in the people and their beliefs that I would love to meet firsthand.I will definitely read more that Chang has written. I strongly recommend this book. 4.5 stars!

[janarose1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When the Japanese begin their invasion of China, university student Lian finds herself being evacuated with the Minghua University. Lian and her classmates have been tasked with transporting the Library of Legends, a collection of myths and folklore which has survived for over 500 years. As they travel with the books, spirits, guardians, and gods begin to awake.It is hard to describe all of the moving pieces of this book adequately. The characters were very well developed and multi-dimensional. I found the interaction between the mortal and immortal fascinating. I have already purchased Janie Change's other books and look forward to reading them. Overall 5 out of 5 stars.

[cattriona · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an engaging work of historical fiction, set during the Second Sino-Japanese War, with a touch of fantasy in the form of Chinese mythology. The characters are interesting and well drawn, and the story is suspenseful as the characters make their way walking across China to escape the war. Highly recommended for fans of historical or Chinese fiction.

[mommom46 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

With thanks to LibraryThing for the chance to preview The Library of Legends. I particularly enjoyed the story blending Chinese myth and spirits with the war Japan is fighting in China. The story was interesting and I liked the characters but it tended to be more Historical Romance than Historical Fiction.